If a deep-seated part of you giggles when you see a Hello Kitty character, then you?ll be squealing loudly over Sanrio Digital?s simplistic, but adorably kitsch, arcade game on Android, Hello Kitty Caf? (free).
In Hello Kitty Caf?, you take on the role of a restaurant manager trying to grow your Sanrio-themed restaurant. Your employees are all Sanrio characters with varying strengths, and you need to juggle the needs of your staff with the demands of your growing clientele. Potential decisions: should you handle an impatient new customer first, or ring up someone who?s been waiting to leave? Replace ageing furniture, or add to the menu? Promote current employees, or hire new ones?
Okay, so Hello Kitty Caf? sounds like actual work, but coupled with Sanrio anime cuteness, slick graphics, and a high-quality soundtrack, Hello Kitty Caf? is actually a charming, if repetitive, way to pass time.
Gameplay You start with a single employee?the yellow Sanrio dog, Purim?who you have to direct to fulfill various duties of a restaurant: bringing customers to tables, taking orders, fulfilling orders, settling bills, and clearing tables. If you leave any task unattended for too long, you lose customers, and potential money. Every day (which runs about five minutes) represents a new level, and every level brings more business. The first few levels are pretty slow and easy. I'm no multitasker, but I never lost a customer on my first stab.
As the levels get harder, you find yourself having to manage your supply chain to meet the higher customer turnover. It also becomes abundantly clear that the slow Purim can?t handle everything himself. Fortunately, at the end of every level, you have the option to enhance your restaurant with new employees (all Sanrio characters), promote existing ones, or, eventually, upgrade the restaurant with new menu items and furniture. Some of these level ups can be bought with coins you earn after passing a level, but most require points.
Earning Points Annoyingly, there are only two ways to earn points. The fastest is with money. A hundred points will set you back $0.99, and hiring new employees ranges from Pochacco for 80 points to Pekkle, for 3,000 points. Alternatively you can earn ?free? points by installing affiliate apps (like the dubious-sounding Deity Wars, Blood Brothers, or VIZ Manga). No information is given about these apps either, so a user has absolutely no way of knowing what he?s about to put on his device. Doesn't sound safe to me.
Hello Kitty Caf? looks and sounds great, thanks to surprisingly high-quality design from Sanrio's digital arm. And although the game is pretty repetitive, it's oddly satisfying as well trying to figure out the most efficient way to manage all the demands of the caf?. Two things would raise the game's rating, however: an easier way to earn points, and a social element, like being able to go into other people's caf?s.
For more Android Software, see: ??? Hello Kitty Cafe (for Android) ??? Dolphin Browser HD 8.8 (for Android) ??? Fing-Network Tools (for Android) ??? Maxthon 2.7 (for Android) ??? WhatsApp (for Android) ?? more
Tesla Motors has answered critics of the range and energy source of electric cars by establishing a network of solar-powered charge stations throughout California, with plans to expand to the rest of the U.S. And if you have a Model S, charging is free forever.
For years it has been an oft-repeated objection to electric cars that while they may not themselves produce carbon emissions, their electricity often is produced by carbon-producing power plants. It's a legitimate problem, though for now unavoidable ? unless, as Tesla demonstrates, you circumvent the power grid altogether.
That's what they've decided to do with their Supercharger stations, a network of solar-powered chargers that will refill your Tesla Model S free of charge. And what's more, they charge at four or five times the rate of even a high-capacity home charger, so you can get 150 miles of range back in half an hour.?
The Superchargers aren't intended for everyday charging, but for long-distance driving: they're?spaced between 100 and 200 miles apart, distant but?well within the 250-mile range of the Model S. At the moment the network is limited to California, but Musk was confident that within two years, much of the U.S. (as well as some of Europe and Asia) will be covered:
As Tesla CEO Elon Musk said at the announcement, "If you want to go from LA to New York, if you pack food and stay with friends, you can leave your wallet at home."
The other nice thing about these stations is that not only do they power themselves, but they're designed to collect more solar energy than they expend on charging vehicles. This extra energy they actually contribute to the grid, so they're a net positive, not a draw.
Tesla's Model S is their newest vehicle, aimed at commuters and families. At around?$50,000 to start, it competes with Lexus and BMW, not Honda and Subaru, but that hasn't stopped it from pre-selling thousands of units. They're only just this month starting to roll out to buyers, so there aren't many on the road just yet.
The Supercharger stations in and around Los Angeles and San Francisco are online?right now, and others will surely be announced by Tesla when they go live. More information can be found at Tesla's press release, and?Engadget has embedded a video of the event.
Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. His personal website is coldewey.cc.
Taking your business online successfully is anything but a walk in the park. Internet truly represents the free enterprise culture where phenomenal competition and potential levels are all the time driving businesses into scaling new heights.
Therefore you got to pull out your strongest online representation to stay in the game. Hiring custom web designers is the first, and perhaps, the most crucial step in that direction.
Top reasons for hiring custom web designers
Best-fit solutions: Hiring a custom web design company is akin to moving with the times. Custom website designs are exclusively customized to match your needs and micro-requirements. Whether its about payment gateways, social media optimization, a certain color scheme or font style, custom website designers turn out tailor-made web solutions perfected to your business ideologies.
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Custom websites are not built over generic templates. There is every chance that a website thus developed attracts eyeballs just by its look and feel. However template designs are facsimile extensions of millions of similar looking web properties. If you go with template designs, this advantage is automatically squandered.
Absolute Personalization
Bespoke websites meet brand sensibilities, incorporate logos and insignias with color palettes, and, in short, are absolute representation of brand philosophies.
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Custom designed websites grow as your business grows. If you ever need to add additional features such as newsletter sign ups, or social media buttons, or when your business expands and you need more pages, custom websites can be modified to suit these needs even years after theyve been initially designed. Further, most custom web designers generally adopt easy Content Management Systems (CMS) which make it easy for you to update the site by yourself.
Fluid Navigation
Fluid navigation is almost an absolute with custom websites. The direct impact is an increase in the "average user time" on your website. Since custom websites are smooth to navigate, users are able to experience something very tangible, and are more likely to explore additional pages.
Trans-browser capabilities
Custom website designers start off from scratch, develop clean codes, and develop websites compatible with all browsers, giving you trans-browser functionality and ensuring your website expands it access channels.
About the Author: Softwaredevelopersindia, a global custom web designing company which operates out of the UK, USA and India, follows a very simple policy when it comes to custom website design: Quality products at affordable pricing. Our websites score over generic templates because they offer high-end customized unique to your business, and provide a range of options that templates just cannot compete with.
When Apple announced the iPhone 5 just a few weeks go, ?a feature which was picked up on but not discusssed in a lot of detail was HD Voice mainly as only a handful of networks worldwide support this new service.
Well the great news is any of you who are using the new iPhone 5 on the Three UK network WILL already be getting this service. ?We asked Three earlier today if the new iPhone supports HD voice and quicky got the reply
Hi Dan, it definitely does :-)
It was back in June 2011 when a blog post from Three told us all about HD voice, if you missed it here is the content
Here at?Three?we?re always looking for ways to improve our customer?s experience on our network. Whether it?s?all-you-can-eat data,?one month rolling contracts?or?4G technology.
By now some of you may have heard about (and experienced!) High Definition voice calls and we?re really excited that it?s now been rolled out on Three. You have to hear it to believe it, but the difference in call quality is pretty amazing, almost completely eliminating background noise.
We launched HD voice calls onto our network at the end of May and we?ve already had some great feedback.
The technology, which is currently only available on 3G networks, dramatically improves the quality and clarity of voice calls, making it easier to hear the person you?re talking to.
This service is the first step-change in voice quality to hit mobile users since the introduction of digital technology, and it?s free on our network.
Hundreds of thousands of HD calls have already been made on Three since we completed the rollout, and we?re expecting that figure to continue to rise.
The technology works by opening up the phone?s audio range, allowing it to capture and transmit sounds across a wider band of frequencies making HD Voice calls sound clearer and more natural compared to a standard mobile or land line call.
There are three phones on Three that already come with HD voice enabled. So for those of you that have aNokia C7, E7 or N8?you may have already experienced HD voice calls. Many other phones will support the technology by the end of this autumn, including for example the?Nokia X7.
As HD voice calls are still new to us they?re only available between people on the?Three network, and both the caller and the receiver need to have an HD Voice equipped phone. We are also looking to roll out cross-operator calls in the future. As soon as we can let you know more on this, we will.
Link: Three Blog
?
About Dan
I have been reviewing and writing about phones for 6 years and working in mobile phone retail for the past 5 years. Since writing about phones i have attended most major international conferences and was the official ?blogger? for Sony Ericsson at the 2010 Mobile World Conference.
Supermodel Maggie Rizer and her family are devastated over the death of their 2-year-old golden retriever, Bea. The 34-year-old beauty blames United Airlines for Bea’s [...]
The NFL has updated its clubs regarding the negotiations with locked-out game officials via a memo from general counsel Jeff Pash.? It looks and feels like a press release.
Adam Schefter of ESPN has obtained the document, which addresses the recent negotiations between the two sides and addresses the areas of discrepancy that remain, from the perspective of the league.
Pash explains that, in addition to last week?s discussions, that parties met for six hours on Saturday and nine hours on Sunday.? The session on Sunday involved a federal mediator, who has no specific power over the two sides but who has tried to get them to reach an agreement.? Commissioner Roger Goodell participated in the weekend discussions.
The memo explains that significant gaps remain on all issues, and that the officials? most recent proposal is ?unacceptable in numerous important respects.?
Pash explains that the officials now want a shorter deal, at six years instead of seven, along with only a 10-percent reduction in their request for increased pay and a ?ratification bonus? aimed in part to pay the locked-out officials for the weeks that they have missed.
And here?s the summary of the league?s position, which perhaps can best be described as being for the benefit of the media, since the clubs already should know what was being offered: ?Game officials on average earned almost $150,000 in 2011. Prior to the start of the lockout, we proposed a 7-year deal that would have increased average game official?s compensation more than 7 percent to just over $161,000 in 2012, and further increase that average to more than $189,000 by 2018. In addition, we have offered a generous defined contribution retirement plan, with average contributions of $16,500 in 2012, increasing to more than $22,300 per game official by 2018. Officials also receive numerous other benefits, including severance equal to one year?s game fees and postseason bonus, a period of guaranteed ?time off? from the end of the season through mid-May of each year, first-class air travel, and partial reimbursement for medical insurance for officials who do not have insurance through their other jobs.?
Perhaps the line that will raise the most eyebrows appears in the final paragraph: ?We recognize that the current officials are under unprecedented scrutiny and we are committed to do all we can to help them continue to improve.?
They?re not improving. And the replay officials (who aren?t replacements) and the league supervisors (who aren?t replacements) aren?t helping.
The broader message?? The league is still circling the wagons, waiting for 61 or more of the 121 locked-out officials to collectively cry ?uncle? and to then find a lawyer to draw up the paperwork that will recite, in the appropriate jargon, ?uncle.?
This month is Self Improvement Month. All this month I will do a weekly post to help you improve yourself by getting organized.
Last week we took a home assessment for Self Improvement Month. This week we put that plan into action. This week it is time to get organized!
Look over your home assessment list and let?s get started.
You want to first gather your supplies. (Trash bags, boxes, sharpies, etc.)
You want to get started in one area first.
Sweep through the house organizing according to the plan you wrote out last week.
Immediately take out the trash and take the donations to where you have already designated them to go.
Start containerizing what you have decided to keep.
Put everything in their place. You should already have the designated spots preplanned from your outline last week.
That?s it! You now have completely organized your home. Give yourself a pat on the back and a cup of tea. Now this process can take you several weeks to complete. It?s not like the TV shows you see where everything is tip top in 48 hours. So don?t get discouraged at the length of time it may take to get everything in order. Just keep working your plan and you should have no problem having an organized home in no time.
Next week I will show you how to maintain what you have now put in order. Because maintenance is the key to success.
Until next week?
?
Samantha Pointer is the owner of Get It Together! Organizing and Pointer's Vine Web Design. She is a Blissfully Domestic Writer and the Director of Technology for NAPO Nashville. She also manages several websites and blogs. She is the mother to two beautiful girls and enjoys spending time with family and friends. Samantha is a tech geek, foodie, history buff and sports fanatic just to name a few of the hobbies she enjoys. You can find her on her computer late at night sending out emails. She loves cooking,architecture, old homes and decorating. If she was not doing what she is doing now she would have been an economist or historian.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- No. 1 Alabama got everything but the shutout.
AJ McCarron threw three touchdown passes, including an early 85-yarder to Kenny Bell, and the Crimson Tide routed Florida Atlantic 40-7 on Saturday.
Eddie Lacy rushed for 106 yards in the first half for the Tide (4-0), which rolled to 134 consecutive points and two shutouts before allowing a touchdown in the final minutes.
"We try to pride ourselves always on people not scoring on our defense," Alabama cornerback Dee Milliner said. "We try to get zero and have no one score on us. That's a big accomplishment for us. They got in, at the end, one touchdown, but we still had a great game."
The Owls (1-3) managed only one first down through three quarters and were outgained 503-110 in total yards. They were coming off a 56-20 loss to another Southeastern Conference power, No. 5 Georgia.
Florida Atlantic coach Carl Pelini called Alabama "as physical a team as there is out there."
"That's not Georgia we faced today, that's Alabama ? it's very different, "Pelini said. "Different scheme-wise. I think they're more physical than Georgia. You know, I don't compare teams but they're just different. They play differently. They pressure more than Georgia did. They're physical in their man coverage."
This one was even more one-sided for the 50-point underdogs.
McCarron was 15-of-25 passing for 212 yards before leaving midway through the third quarter. The 85-yarder came 1:42 into the game and is tied for the fifth-longest touchdown pass in Tide history.
The only suspense late was whether Alabama could complete a third straight shutout for the first time since Bear Bryant's unbeaten 1966 team.
Alabama ran its shutout streak to 192 minutes, 25 seconds dating back to the third quarter of the opener against Michigan, but that's as far as it got.
Graham Wilbert hit Alex Deleon for a 6-yard touchdown with 2:49 left, silencing the remaining fans hoping for three shutouts in a row. It took 8 minutes, 24 seconds, 15 plays and two fourth-down conversions to reach the end zone on the drive.
An unsportsmanlike conduct flag against Alabama's bench for stepping too far onto the field two plays before the score showed how badly the Tide wanted to keep the goose eggs flowing.
The Owls had just 41 total yards and one first down through three quarters before finally moving the ball across midfield on the final drive.
Wilbert was 7-of-13 passing for 34 yards ? 23 on the cosmetic scoring drive. Earlier, Jesse Williams had blocked a field goal attempt to preserve the shutout attempt.
"They played really well, we just started slow," Wilbert said. "It was just tough to get things going the first half and we just did a terrible job coming out. We didn't have a lot of energy."
Alabama's backup, Blake Sims, had one completion, a 35-yarder to freshman Cyrus Jones. Fellow freshman T.J. Yeldon ran 10 times for 63 yards and a third newcomer, Kenyan Drake, scored on an 8-yard run for Alabama's final points early in the fourth.
The kickers, maligned at times last season, were perfect.
Alabama did just about everything it wanted in the first half ? except, at times, punch it into the end zone. The Tide led 30-0 with three field goals, including a career-best 52-yarder by Cade Foster. He added a 46-yarder in the second half while Jeremy Shelley had kicks of 26 and 30 yards in the second quarter.
The Tide dominated 353-23 in total yards in the half and started in a big way.
On Alabama's third play, McCarron hit Bell on a short crossing route. Bell got away from one defender and sprinted by himself down the sideline for the 85-yarder on his only reception.
"It was a great touchdown," Bell said. "I felt like it was time for me to make a big play to get the offense going. When AJ saw me, he threw it to me, threw a pass to me then I just had to use my legs to get to the touchdown."
Then DeAndrew White barely managed to get his foot down inbounds at the back of the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown catch and McCarron hit Christion Jones for another 4-yarder with 8 seconds left in the half.
Alabama converted a fourth-and-1 to avoid settling for another kick.
Alabama scored on its first seven drives, not counting a fumbled punt return that was one of the few real mistakes. It was a different story from a 35-0 win over another Sun Belt team, Western Kentucky, two weeks ago when coach Nick Saban griped that his players weren't focused enough on the game.
This time he tried to keep attention internally, trying to aim for the lofty standard he's set for the defending national champions.
The Tide has now beaten nine of its last 17 opponents by at least 30 points, including last week's 52-0 win at Arkansas.
"I was much more pleased with the way we competed in the game," Saban said. "Just the way we approached the game, the way we competed in the game, and we got to play a lot of players. I think those things are going to benefit us down the road, and even though they drove the ball, we actually probably played a little bit better this week than last week. You know, they didn't score last week. They could've scored, but they didn't."
Singer's new single 'Diamonds' is set to premiere on US radio on Wednesday (September 26)
Photo: PA
Rihanna has teased clues to her seventh album by posting a link to her new website on Twitter last night (September 22)
The 'Talk That Talk' singer, whose new single 'Diamonds' is set to premiere on US radio on Wednesday, directed her fans to the new website www.rihanna7.com in a series of tweets.
Rihanna also posted a picture from her official Instagram of the letter 'R', which has been formed with lyrics from potential songs and quotes about her life. Incidentally, the same picture is the holding page for the new website, above the words "coming soon".
Meanwhile, the singer has described her new single 'Diamonds', which will be premiered on the Elvis Duran and The Morning Show on Wednesday, as being a "happy and hippy record".
She told US radio presenter Elvis Duran during her visit to the iHeartRadio music festival yesterday that the new single was "laid-back " and "hopeful", adding: "It gives me such a great feeling when I listen to it. The lyrics are very hopeful and positive, but it's about love and the gears are a little different from what people would expect. I'm excited to surprise them sonically."
The news about Rihanna's seventh studio album was accidently leaked by her label Def Jam's French wing earlier this month. The label had to hastily delete their tweet breaking news of the record and issue a statement saying news on the album would be release later.
BAUCHI, Nigeria (AP) ? A suicide car bomber attacked a Catholic church conducting Mass in northern Nigeria on Sunday, killing two people and wounding another 45 in a region under assault by a radical Islamist sect, officials said.
An Associated Press journalist heard the explosion after 9 a.m. Sunday in the city of Bauchi, which has seen a number of bombings and shootings blamed on the sect known as Boko Haram. The blast appeared to hit a parking lot alongside the St. John's Catholic Church in the city.
Police and military surrounded the church and did not allow journalists inside the cordon. Later at a nearby hospital, Bauchi deputy police commissioner T. Stevens told journalists told that the bomber had been stopped at the church's gate, where he detonated the explosives packed inside his car.
Doctors cautioned more could die from their injuries.
"The situation has been brought under control," Stevens said. "We have our men minding all areas."
Stevens said no group or individual had claimed responsibility for the attack, though suspicion immediately fell on Boko Haram. The sect, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege" in the Hausa language of Nigeria's north, has been waging an increasingly bloody fight against nation's weak central government. More than 680 people have died in drive-by killings and bombings blamed on Boko Haram this year alone, according to an AP count. The sect has demanded the release of all its captive members and has called for strict Shariah law to be implemented across the entire country.
The sect has used suicide car bombs against churches in the past, most noticeably a 2011 Christmas Day attack on a Catholic church in Madalla near Nigeria's capital. That attack and assaults elsewhere in the country killed at least 44 people. An unclaimed car bombing on Easter in Kaduna killed at least 38 people on a busy roadway after witnesses say it was turned away from a church.
Attacks against churches by the sect have waned in recent weeks. Nigeria's military claimed it killed the sect's spokesman and a commander Sept. 17 outside the city of Kano, potentially shaking up a sect that has continued attacks despite a tighter military presence in northern cities.
The killing of members of the sect's senior leadership comes as the group recently changed some of its tactics and attacked more than 30 mobile phone towers throughout northern Nigeria, disrupting communications in a nation reliant on cellular phones.
Saturday night, the military conducted door-to-door searches in the northern cities of Damaturu and Potiskum, areas now under a 24-hour curfew that have been hard-hit by the sect.
___
Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Lagos, Nigeria, contributed to this report.
Surveillance Aerostats Show Promise On Texas Border As CBP?Evaluates Test Results Calvin Biesecker
Field testing in August of two aerostats equipped with surveillance gear along Texas? border with Mexico showed that the technology is ?very effective? for border security applications, although Customs and Border Protection (CBP) continues...
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma?an) -- Israel has handed to Egypt the bodies of three suspected Jihadists who crossed Israel's borders and clashed with Israeli soldiers killing one and seriously injuring another early Friday.
An Egyptian security source told Ma?an that Israeli and Egyptian military commanders met to exchange information and make security arrangements for future. After that the bodies were delivered to Egypt.
The source highlighted that one of the person's remains was dismembered as a result of an explosive belt around the operative's body. The other two bodies were identifiable.
According to the source, the meeting between Egyptian and Israeli commanders was positive and both sides were cooperative and reflected a high level of security cooperation.
Israeli troops killed three militants along the Israel-Egypt border on Friday, and an Israeli soldier also died in the exchange of fire, the army said.
A group of militants entered Israel through a gap in fence construction halfway down the border and opened fire on Israeli soldiers, an army spokesman said. A nearby patrol returned fire, killing three people, he said.
Security sources said earlier that at least two soldiers were wounded.
By leaving support for Jerusalem as Israel's capital off its platform, the Democratic party sparked the latest fierce debate on the much-disputed city. What's the back story?
By Christa Case Bryant,?Staff writer / September 5, 2012
Jerusalem has been perhaps the world?s most coveted ? and contested ? piece of real estate for 3,000 years. In the latest battle, the city?s status has become a point of contention between Democrats and Republicans, who are vying for the support of American Jews, an influential and well-heeled bloc of voters.?
Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly Digital Edition
The latest furor erupted after the Democratic National Committee (DNC) released a draft copy of the party platform earlier this week that made no reference to Jerusalem as Israel's capital, which it included in its 2008 platform.?The exclusion brings the party in line with White House policy on Jerusalem, but it still generated a firestorm, as well as confusion about whether it signals a policy change.?
?The Obama Administration has followed the same policy towards Jerusalem that previous US administrations of both parties have done since 1967,? a DNC statement said, according to the Jewish Telegraph Agency. ?As the White House said several months ago, the status of Jerusalem is an issue that should be resolved in final status negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians -- which we also said in the 2008 platform."
At the heart of the issue is whether the US should support Israel?s claim to the city as the ?eternal and undivided capital? of the Jewish people. If the US did support that claim, it would almost certainly base the US Embassy in Jerusalem, as Mitt Romney promised to do on his recent campaign visit there.?
But every American administration since Israel?s founding has resisted taking that step, as have a majority of other countries.
Jewish claims to the city
Jerusalem, the seat of power for the biblical King David in roughly 1,000 BC, saw a succession of Jewish rulers until the Romans conquered the city in 70 AD and destroyed the Jewish temple.
When the United Nations approved a blueprint for a modern Israeli state in 1947, it partitioned historic Palestine between Jews and Arabs, with Jerusalem envisioned as part of an international enclave administered by trustees. Zionist leaders accepted the plan and declared independence in 1948, sparking a war with Arabs, who rejected the proposal. By the time the fighting stopped a year later, Jews were in control of west Jerusalem, while Jordan held the eastern part of the city, including the walled Old City.
When Arab aggression provoked another war in 1967, Israel fought back decisively, capturing all of east Jerusalem, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the Sinai Peninsula in six days. Israeli leaders heralded Jerusalem as the ?eternal and undivided capital? of the Jewish people. They redrew the city?s borders to include holy sites and strategic high ground but few Arabs, tripling the city?s territory and giving it a strong Jewish majority.
International opposition
In 1980, Israel formally annexed East Jerusalem with the passage of the ?Basic law.??This elicited a strong reaction from the United Nations. The UN Security Council passed Resolution 478 with only one abstention (from the US), declaring the Basic Law ?null and void? and calling on Israel to rescind it in the interest of making peace with Palestinians.
Palestinians also lay claim to Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state. The city is considered to be the third-holiest city in Islam, home to the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque ? located on the very site where the Jewish temple is believed to have been built ? and long ruled by the Ottoman Empire.
Israel?s annexation of East Jerusalem, its support for a growing number of Jewish neighborhoods in the predominantly Arab area, and plans for new Israeli-run archeological parks in some of the most sensitive areas of the city are all seen by the international community to be prejudicing any eventual peace agreement with the Palestinians.?
For this reason, most nations have kept their embassies in Tel Aviv, Israel?s largest and most prosperous city and far less controversial a location than Jerusalem. According to one tally, only two countries ? Greece and Italy ? have their embassies in Jerusalem proper.?
If Gov. Romney were to deliver on his campaign promise to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, that would make three.
All Critics (86) | Top Critics (24) | Fresh (82) | Rotten (4)
The most fascinating aspect of the movie is why the missing boy's family believed the imposter's story.
You may begin to wonder if you aren't being conned by the movie yourself.
Beverly Dollarhide, Nicholas's mother, says of the period after her son's disappearance, "My main goal in life at that time was not to think." Apparently, the filmmakers have taken a cue from her.
Layton's dazzling film is an exciting, edge-of-your-seat experience superior to any Hollywood mystery you're likely to see for a long time.
"The Imposter" becomes more than just a missing-persons drama. It hints at something much darker: a real-life horror story, the full truth of which may never be known.
This is one creepy mystery.
Every bit as engaging as it is well-shot, it proves once more that truth is, indeed, stranger than fiction.
A mixture of documentary, mystery and thriller, which recounts an astonishing true story that gets more outrageous with each revelation
Strange and intriguing, searching for that elusive essence known as 'the perfect truth.'
Rather like watching a magician pulling off a trick which your eyes cannot see, The Imposter offers its own strange kind of magic.
The story is astonishing enough on its own, and The Imposter succeeds in enhancing its immediacy and intensity.
As his story unfolds, one gets the uncomfortable sensation that a joke is being played. But on whom?
One of the year's most provocative pictures.
Incredibly well-made and with a story you won't forget, "The Imposter" is one of the better docs of the season.
The Imposter emerges as a brilliantly slippery film that demands brain-stretching consideration. Astonishing, indeed.
It's an astounding story, truly, and Bourdin is the most chillingly sympathetic sociopath: frank, remorseless, matter-of-fact.
British director Bart Layton has only slightly fictionalised this extraordinary story for his documentary, which is told more as a thriller than a statement of hard fact.
"The Imposter" is one of the best films of the year.
Not only is the story riveting, but the film explores huge issues that really get under our skin
The Imposter frequently sends your jaw hurtling to the floor as it tries to understand the great pretender and a family only too willing to accept him as one of their own.
When this film was over, I felt as if I had been holding my breath for 99 minutes. It is pure, delicious suspense.
The mysteries stick with you. In 20 years time, someone will leap up and shout, "Eureka!"
Think of Clint Eastwood's Changeling and multiply by the power of reality.
The month's second mind-blowing doc ... a thinker that deserves the thought.
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For the rest of today, every story you read in TechCrunch's main news river will contain words.
This is an experiment, and it?s probably less of a risk than it might look. Words have always been central to TechCrunch's approach. In fact, a huge number of our stories on any given day already include original words. Our word people call sources, check facts, and get words said to them for a large proportion of our stories.
This NOAA satellite image taken Friday, Sept. 21, 2012 at 1:45 a.m. EDT shows a cold front moving across the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley with showers and a few thunderstorms. An upper level trough is affecting the Upper Mississippi Valley and the Dakotas with areas of showers/light rain. A stationary front is across central Florida with showers and thunderstorms.(AP PHOTO/WEATHER UNDERGROUND)
This NOAA satellite image taken Friday, Sept. 21, 2012 at 1:45 a.m. EDT shows a cold front moving across the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley with showers and a few thunderstorms. An upper level trough is affecting the Upper Mississippi Valley and the Dakotas with areas of showers/light rain. A stationary front is across central Florida with showers and thunderstorms.(AP PHOTO/WEATHER UNDERGROUND)
A low pressure system spinning over eastern Canada creates a cold front that bring showers to the Great Lakes and moves into the Northeast Saturday Sept. 22, 2012. Meanwhile, high pressure builds over the Western states and Plains, maintaining dry and mild conditions. (AP Photo/Weather Underground)
More showers are expected Friday across the Midwest and Great Lakes as a low pressure system continues spinning just north of the Great Lakes. The system is moving northward through eastern Canada, allowing for cold air to continue pouring into the Upper Midwest.
The system will push another cold front into the upper Mississippi River valley, producing widespread scattered showers. Heavier rain showers will persist along the downwind shores as flow from the northwest picks up moisture from the Great Lakes and creates bouts of heavier rain. This system will head south into the Ohio River valley and Midwest through Friday afternoon and evening.
In the South, the tail end of a cold front will weaken over Florida, amid diminishing thunderstorm activity in the state. A few showers may persist, but heavy rains and strong storms are not likely.
Out West, high pressure over the Western states will bring another warm and dry day with dangerous fire weather conditions. Areas of smoke and poor visibility will continue for the Pacific Northwest and \intermountain West as active wildfires create poor air quality for the region.
The Northern Rockies will see highs in the 70s again on Friday, about 10 degrees above seasonable for the region. Temperatures in the lower 48 states ranged Thursday from a morning low of 24 degrees at West Yellowstone, Montana, to a high of 104 degrees at El Centro, Calif.
___
Online:
Weather Underground: http://www.wunderground.com
National Weather Service: http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov
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FROM FILM.COM Most genres have a few key calling cards. Superheroes have capes and/or superpowers. Gangster films have guns and cars. But all a "Coming of Age" film, like this week's new release "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," needs is a young character learning his or her place in the world. The folks over [...]
So, you have an awesome website. You?ve abundant content, a modern look, and neat graphics. But irrespective of how great your internet site may possibly appear, the traffic just is not to arrive. The good news is the traffic should come eventually, if you use the best methods. The terrible news is, driving in traffic is an normal approach that takes time and it hardly ever really stops. Now how could you get traffic in faster and more effectively? Read these 5 tips and your site will sure to own more coverage, which obviously, generates more sales.1. Tweet the BizTwitter has swiftly become an essential section of many companies? business programs. Facebook makes for fans to see what your company does, what it is involved in, and what is going on in the market. The standard and consistency of your business?s tweets are very important to operating more traffic to your website. Here are some tweet-worthy methods that can help you gain more Twitter supporters and drive more traffic to your website:Tweet continually (a few times per day) Make quality tweets-try to locate something new, funny or interesting to express Utilize the search.twitter.com function Combine shortened links in your tweets Follow people and other companies! In the course of time they will follow you, too Put in a Twitter option to your website2. Offer Some to Facebook Face TimeYou may think that Facebook is simply that social media marketing site that students use, but think again! With more than 500 million customers, Facebook has become one of many most readily useful methods to market a small business. If your business doesn?t have a Facebook page, it?s time and energy to make the step. Listed here are some tips on to just how to effectively put up your Facebook page to be able to generate more traffic to your site:Provide information about your company including its address, site, telephone number Utilize the ?Feed? and ?Like? methods Add a ?Like? key on your own website Create personal conversations that requires lots of people Advertise any pictures or events that your business is wearing the Facebook page Don?t use jargon3. Keep Your Customers if you should be selling flying water trampolines or Botox shots Updated-Blog!It does not matter, a web log can drive traffic to any site. Blogs are an easy device that will keep your web visitors updated with the most recent company news and establishes a current model with an awareness of how it generates revenue. Additionally, blogs are newsworthy, so they frequently turn up within the first three pages of Google. To efficiently work with a blog:Research steps to start your business?s blog Use Search Engine Optimization strategies Add images and/or movie into your sites for a far more visually stimulating examine Use your blog to let your visitors know what is certainly going on in the community as well as in your business Enable comments to be left by people below the blog and utilize this feedback to enhance your business4. Become Google?s Most readily useful Friend-SEOGetting on the first three pages of a Google search starts with one thing: Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Everything and anything that you do online, whether its social media, blogging, posting pictures, or calling items, plays a part in your normal research rank. To improve your Google SEO:Get your site?s link on other internet sites Utilize the Google AdWords Keyword Tool to get which keywords are searched the absolute most Build meta tags and article keyword-rich information on your site5. Link-buildingLink-building is an advertising approach that has developed to create more ticks to your website. Link-building is a term that refers to generating back links to your website from other websites on the web. For that reason, link-building not just features still another site?s readers to your internet site, but inaddition it enhances your SEO standing. Just how to link-build:Comment on articles, websites and community forums and keep a connect to your site Include your link on different internet sites that you may create for, such as Examiner, Helium, or BrooWaha Collaborate with other businesses in your area and encourage link-building between one anotherThese are only five simple instruments that will assist you to boost traffic to your internet site. There are many other resources out there to help you see more traffic on your site-but start with these five big ones, and you?ll be sure to get more publicity and generate more revenue!
A new study by CarInsurance.com ranks New Hampshire and Alaska among the top states for drivers, Read writes. Mississippi and Louisiana, on the other hand, make drivers miserable.
By Richard Read,?Guest blogger / September 18, 2012
A Mississippi Department of Transportation sign in Hattiesburg, Miss., warns southbound motorists on U.S. 49 of weather conditions in South Mississippi in this August 2012 file photo. Mississippi ranked as the most miserable place for drivers, according to a new study by CarInsurance.com.
John Fitzhugh/Sun Herald/AP/File
Enlarge
Back in May, we gave you our picks for the?best (and worst) states for drivers. Now, another organization has compiled a similar list, and we're intrigued to see some overlap in the results.
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Here at TCC, we based our rankings of U.S. states on five criteria:?
Gas?prices
Miles driven per capita
Speed limits
Accident rate
Speeding tickets written
After crunching the numbers, we found Alaska to be the best state for drivers, followed by Utah, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts.?
At the bottom: Louisiana, bested slightly by Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama.
Now, the folks at?CarInsurance.com has done something similar. In generating their rankings, though, they've focused on the cost of?vehicle?ownership. Their four criteria are:
Number of miles driven
Cost of gasoline
Cost of insurance
Average income
Ultimately, the website's staff took all that data and created what they're calling the?Automotive Misery Index.
The least -- and most -- miserable states
If you live in the Northeast or the West, congratulations: those are some of the least miserable areas for drivers. CarInsurance.com rated?New Hampshire?as the best state, followed byAlaska,?Connecticut,?Colorado, and?Washington.
At the other end of the scale,?Mississippi?ranked as the most miserable place for drivers.?
How is that possible, given the fact that Mississippi boasts some of the cheapest gas in the U.S.? It's for two reasons, really.
For starters, Mississippians put an average of?20,424 miles on their odometers each year, which is more than?in almost any other state. (Wyoming residents are the only folks to best that total, with annual mileage averaging?22,543.)
But the key to Mississippi's rank is its income. While gas and?insurance?aren't exorbitantly pricey in the Hospitality State, they take a huge bite out of Mississippi's average income, which, at?$36,821, is the lowest on the list. (FYI, Mississippi is one of only three states with an average annual income below $40,000 -- the other two being its neighbors, Tennessee and Arkansas.)
Mississippi is joined at the bottom of the list by other states from the South and one from the Midwest. Coming in at #2 is?Oklahoma, followed by?Louisiana,?West?Virginia, and?Georgia.
The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best auto bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger,?click here.?To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on the link in the blog description box above.
Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at a campaign fundraising event in Atlanta, Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at a campaign fundraising event in Atlanta, Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Chart shows favorably and standing with likely voters for Barack Obama and Mitt Romney
Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at a campaign fundraising event in Atlanta, Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Barack Obama talks with David Letterman on the set of the "Late Show With David Letterman" at the Ed Sullivan Theater, Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012, in New York. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Fresh signs of a national housing rebound and growing support in public opinion polls boosted President Barack Obama's bid for a new term in the White House on Wednesday as Republican rival Mitt Romney struggled to quell his video controversy.
The challenger's attempts to get his campaign back on track ran into new difficulty in the form of criticism from rank-and-file Republicans concerned about their own election prospects in the fall.
"I have a very different view of the world," said appointed Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada, taking issue with Romney's dismissive comments about the 47 percent of all Americans who pay no income taxes. Separately, Senate GOP leaders avoided answering questions about their presidential candidate at a news conference in the Capitol.
After days of virtually nonstop political damage control on issues foreign and domestic, Romney assured an audience at a Miami forum that "my campaign is about the 100 percent in America."
Earlier in the day, at an Atlanta fundraiser, Romney said: "The question of this campaign is not who cares about the poor and the middle class. I do. He (Obama) does. The question is who can help the poor and the middle class. I can. He can't."
The former Massachusetts governor spoke about 48 hours after a video emerged that showed him telling donors last May that as a candidate for the White House, "my job is not to worry about" the millions of Americans who don't earn enough to pay income taxes.
Obama spent the day in the White House, a rarity in a race with less than seven weeks yet to run. He invited democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar to the Oval Office, a chat between two Nobel Peace Prize winners.
Romney raised campaign cash in Georgia in advance of his appearance on a forum hosted by the Spanish-language TV network Univision in battleground Florida, his first before a public audience since the emergence of the videotape. The opening portion of the forum focused on his videotaped comments before moving on to his reluctance to clarify his immigration policy and to his support for Arizona's controversial immigration law.
Fellow Republicans have been pressuring Romney to campaign more extensively. The campaign was planning a more aggressive schedule of traditional campaign events in battleground states, including critical Ohio, as early as this weekend, a campaign adviser said. The adviser spoke on the condition of anonymity because the plans had not yet been announced formally.
In a campaign dominated all year by the sluggish economy, the government said construction of single-family homes jumped to the highest rate in more than two years. Separately, the National Association of Realtors reported that home sales rose last month to the highest level since May 2010.
Real estate has been among the slowest sectors of the economy to recover from the national downturn of 2008. The administration has struggled to reverse a decline in home values that left millions who managed to avoid foreclosure owing more on their mortgages than their homes are worth.
There was downbeat news, as well, in an economy struggling to create jobs. State officials in Michigan reported the state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in August rose by four-tenths of a percent to 9.4 percent, well above the national average of 8.1 percent. Romney grew up in Michigan, but he has yet to contest it seriously in his quest for the White House.
A new AP-GfK poll ??" taken before the Romney video was revealed ??" put Obama's overall approval rating among voting-age adults at 56 percent. That was above 50 percent for the first time since May, and at its highest level since the death of terrorist leader Osama bin Laden more than a year ago.
Among likely voters, however, the race was a statistical tie, with Obama at 47 percent and Romney at 46 percent.
The two were also tied statistically when it came to handling the economy and the federal deficit, while the president was preferred on issues of protecting the country, handling health care and understanding the problems of "people like you." On a question of personal credibility, 50 percent of likely voters said Obama more often says what he really believes, while 42 percent said that applied to Romney.
At the same time, 61 percent of likely voters described the economy as poor, and only 22 percent described it as good more than 3 ? years after Obama took office, another indication of the challenges he faces as he bids for a new term in a time of long-term unemployment over 8 percent nationally.
Other new surveys suggested growing support for Obama in the wake of back-to-back national political conventions and Romney's struggle last week to explain an erroneous statement issued at a time of demonstrations ??" one of them deadly ??" at U.S. diplomatic posts in the Middle East.
An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll taken Sept. 12-16 put the president's lead among likely voters at 50-44 percent nationwide.
State surveys by Quinnipiac University, The New York Times and CBS News showed Obama at over 50 percent support among likely voters in Virginia, with 13 electoral votes, and Wisconsin, with 10. Obama carried Wisconsin handily four years ago, but Romney recently signaled he was hoping to make it competitive.
The two men were in a statistical tie in Colorado, which has 9 electoral votes, in surveys conducted between Sept. 11 and 17.
A Washington Post poll also showed Obama with a lead in Virginia.
All the surveys were taken before the flap erupted over Romney's "47 percent" remarks.
Taken together, they showed a highly competitive race as Obama and Romney pursue the 270 electoral votes needed for victory, although with the president in a stronger position than before the two political conventions and with the economy still the dominant issue.
"This is our election to lose," maintained Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. "There's a reason no president has ever been elected with economic numbers like this. If Obama wins, he'll be rewriting political history."
For now, Romney is working to reframe the video controversy into a philosophical difference between himself and Obama ??" to his own advantage.
"Instead of creating a web of dependency, I will pursue policies that grow our economy and lift Americans out of poverty," he wrote in an article in USA Today that omitted any reference to the furor.
At his fundraiser in Atlanta, however, he referred for a second day in a row to a video of Obama, made in 1998. An Illinois state senator at the time, Obama said he believed in income redistribution, "at least to a certain level to make sure everybody's got a shot."
Romney added that the country "does not work by a government saying, become dependent on government, become dependent upon redistribution. That will kill the American entrepreneurship that's lifted our economy over the years."
Responding for the president, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Romney's efforts to push the 14-year-old video were the work of a candidate having "a very bad day or a very bad week."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took up the cause in highly personal terms.
"So who are those Americans Mitt Romney disdains as 'victims' and 'those people?'" the Nevada Democrat said in a speech on the Senate floor. "They're not avoiding their tax bills, using Cayman Island tax shelters or Swiss bank accounts like Mitt Romney."
Romney's campaign released two television ads accusing the Obama administration of conducting a "war on coal." Aides said they were triggered by an announcement on Tuesday by Alpha Natural Resources that it will close mines in Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania and eliminate 1,200 jobs.
___
Associated Press writers Steve Peoples in Atlanta and Kasie Hunt, Matthew Daly, Julie Pace, Kevin Freking, Donna Cassata and Henry C. Jackson in Washington contributed to this report.
Vall dHebron, VHIO and SOLTI head up an international 'dream team' against breast cancerPublic release date: 19-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Amanda Wren 34-695-207-886 Vall dHebron Institute of Oncology
Barcelona, 19 September 2012. The Vall d'Hebron Breast Cancer Unit, the Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO) and SOLTI, an academic breast cancer research group , are heading up a multi-centre international study involving four Spanish and three North American research centres*. The aim of the study is to investigate whether BKM120, a drug that inhibits the PI3K pathway (phosphatidylinositol-3-Kinase) can be an effective treatment against triple-negative breast cancer.
At present it is known that breast cancer can be classified into different subtypes with varying prognoses and responses to treatment. This classification is essentially based on the presence of hormone receptors (oestrogen and progesterone) and the HER2 receptor. In clinical practice this has led to the development of increasingly selective and optimal treatments for patients. Advances in breast cancer treatment using new drugs on accurately-selected populations, along with the implementation of public screening programs, have contributed in recent years to reducing mortality from this disease.
Triple-negative breast cancer: the most aggressive form
Triple-negative breast cancer is defined by the absence of hormone receptors and HER2. This type of breast cancer is an aggressive variety of the disease that generally appears in younger women. Few treatment options beyond chemotherapy and anti-angiogenic agents are currently available. The present study aims to test whether BKM120 is effective for these patients and also, by means of biomarkers in the blood or in the tumour, identify which tumours respond to this new treatment.
The design initiative for this study falls within the grant awarded by the organization Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C), a non-profit entity whose objectives include supporting translational cancer research to ensure that the benefits of the most innovative treatments resulting from basic research can rapidly reach patients through study designs that allow fast-track application of the results.
"Dream Teams" against cancer
SU2C promotes the formation of multidisciplinary teams, known as "Dream Teams", which bring together the talent and knowledge of top scientists and cancer specialists from all over the world, bringing added value to research and allowing the rapid transfer of findings from basic research to clinical application.
Each Dream Team is made up of leading experts in certain tumour types and receives funding to develop their respective project over a three-year period in a highly collaborative and independent environment. The removal of bureaucratic barriers prevents part of the funding being lost through intermediaries, allowing experts to concentrate exhaustively on their research. This structure has been designed to obtain the optimum results with the highest assurance in the shortest possible time.
The team of Dr Jos Baselga from the VHIO is one of the Dream Teams selected by SU2C to take part in this ambitious project and head up the study on BKM 120 for the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer. This top-level collaboration stems from the experience and knowledge of the groups of excellence in the Breast Cancer Unit and the Research Unit for the Molecular Therapy of Cancer - "la Caixa" at the VHIO, headed respectively by Dr Javier Corts and Dr Jordi Rodn, as well as the expertise of SOLTI in coordinating multi-centre academic studies.
The Research Unit for the Molecular Therapy of Cancer (UITM) "la Caixa" and the Breast Cancer Unit already boast four years' experience in researching a broad spectrum of PI3K pathway inhibitors. They recently presented a study at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), Chicago, June 1 - 5, 2012, on the actions of these drugs in patients suffering from breast cancer, in monotherapy or in combination with other treatments. "This study, with data from the largest patient sample ever used, presents some encouraging findings with regard to the control time of the disease in metastatic patients," explains Dr Cristina Saura, the study coordinator in Spain as a member of SOLTI.
Innovations in breast cancer treatment
The PI3K pathway regulates key cellular functions such as cell growth, proliferation and survival. The appearance of mutations in this pathway is common and seems to contribute to the development of certain types of cancer in women, such as cancers of the breast, ovaries, uterus and endometrium. These mutations have also been implicated in the resistance mechanisms to certain conventional treatments (chemotherapy, hormone treatment or Trastuzumab).
The study that is already underway and open at the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital is a Phase II trial with a specific PI3K pathway inhibitor the molecule BKM120 and "the trial aims to determine the clinical activity of the molecule in patients with triple-negative metastatic breast cancer at an advanced stage of the disease still progressing following treatment with chemotherapy," comments Dr Javier Corts, the Head of the Breast Cancer Unit, and continues, "we are thus talking about advanced disease treatment, when the tumour has progressed to standard treatment options".
One of the novel aspects of this project is that it has been specifically designed to determine, by an analysis of the genetic profiles of patients, whether there is an identifiable subgroup of patients that particularly responds to this treatment. "The analysis of the genetic profiles of patients who respond and those who don't will help us to understand the reasons for this response, thanks to the technology and specialist knowledge that only this Dream Team possesses, which gives it a unique value," explains Dr Rodn, Head of the UITM and principal researcher of this international study.
The study with BKM120 is an example of how the highest level of technology combined with excellence in biomedical research can translate into major benefits for patients. Future lines of research will be directed at the exploration and validation of new predictive biomarkers, bringing us one step closer to realising the promise of personalized medicine. It is becoming increasingly necessary to search for biomarkers of response to these molecules in order to determine, prior to treatment, which patients are going to benefit from this treatment and why.
###
*The Spanish centers involved in the BKM120 trial are: the University Hospital of Vall d'Hebron in Barcelona, the Valencian Institute of Oncology at the University Hospital of Valencia, and the 12 de Octubre Hospital in Madrid. Three North American centers are also expected to participate: the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre, and the Dana-Farber Clinic at Faulkner Hospital, all in Boston, MA.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Vall dHebron, VHIO and SOLTI head up an international 'dream team' against breast cancerPublic release date: 19-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Amanda Wren 34-695-207-886 Vall dHebron Institute of Oncology
Barcelona, 19 September 2012. The Vall d'Hebron Breast Cancer Unit, the Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO) and SOLTI, an academic breast cancer research group , are heading up a multi-centre international study involving four Spanish and three North American research centres*. The aim of the study is to investigate whether BKM120, a drug that inhibits the PI3K pathway (phosphatidylinositol-3-Kinase) can be an effective treatment against triple-negative breast cancer.
At present it is known that breast cancer can be classified into different subtypes with varying prognoses and responses to treatment. This classification is essentially based on the presence of hormone receptors (oestrogen and progesterone) and the HER2 receptor. In clinical practice this has led to the development of increasingly selective and optimal treatments for patients. Advances in breast cancer treatment using new drugs on accurately-selected populations, along with the implementation of public screening programs, have contributed in recent years to reducing mortality from this disease.
Triple-negative breast cancer: the most aggressive form
Triple-negative breast cancer is defined by the absence of hormone receptors and HER2. This type of breast cancer is an aggressive variety of the disease that generally appears in younger women. Few treatment options beyond chemotherapy and anti-angiogenic agents are currently available. The present study aims to test whether BKM120 is effective for these patients and also, by means of biomarkers in the blood or in the tumour, identify which tumours respond to this new treatment.
The design initiative for this study falls within the grant awarded by the organization Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C), a non-profit entity whose objectives include supporting translational cancer research to ensure that the benefits of the most innovative treatments resulting from basic research can rapidly reach patients through study designs that allow fast-track application of the results.
"Dream Teams" against cancer
SU2C promotes the formation of multidisciplinary teams, known as "Dream Teams", which bring together the talent and knowledge of top scientists and cancer specialists from all over the world, bringing added value to research and allowing the rapid transfer of findings from basic research to clinical application.
Each Dream Team is made up of leading experts in certain tumour types and receives funding to develop their respective project over a three-year period in a highly collaborative and independent environment. The removal of bureaucratic barriers prevents part of the funding being lost through intermediaries, allowing experts to concentrate exhaustively on their research. This structure has been designed to obtain the optimum results with the highest assurance in the shortest possible time.
The team of Dr Jos Baselga from the VHIO is one of the Dream Teams selected by SU2C to take part in this ambitious project and head up the study on BKM 120 for the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer. This top-level collaboration stems from the experience and knowledge of the groups of excellence in the Breast Cancer Unit and the Research Unit for the Molecular Therapy of Cancer - "la Caixa" at the VHIO, headed respectively by Dr Javier Corts and Dr Jordi Rodn, as well as the expertise of SOLTI in coordinating multi-centre academic studies.
The Research Unit for the Molecular Therapy of Cancer (UITM) "la Caixa" and the Breast Cancer Unit already boast four years' experience in researching a broad spectrum of PI3K pathway inhibitors. They recently presented a study at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), Chicago, June 1 - 5, 2012, on the actions of these drugs in patients suffering from breast cancer, in monotherapy or in combination with other treatments. "This study, with data from the largest patient sample ever used, presents some encouraging findings with regard to the control time of the disease in metastatic patients," explains Dr Cristina Saura, the study coordinator in Spain as a member of SOLTI.
Innovations in breast cancer treatment
The PI3K pathway regulates key cellular functions such as cell growth, proliferation and survival. The appearance of mutations in this pathway is common and seems to contribute to the development of certain types of cancer in women, such as cancers of the breast, ovaries, uterus and endometrium. These mutations have also been implicated in the resistance mechanisms to certain conventional treatments (chemotherapy, hormone treatment or Trastuzumab).
The study that is already underway and open at the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital is a Phase II trial with a specific PI3K pathway inhibitor the molecule BKM120 and "the trial aims to determine the clinical activity of the molecule in patients with triple-negative metastatic breast cancer at an advanced stage of the disease still progressing following treatment with chemotherapy," comments Dr Javier Corts, the Head of the Breast Cancer Unit, and continues, "we are thus talking about advanced disease treatment, when the tumour has progressed to standard treatment options".
One of the novel aspects of this project is that it has been specifically designed to determine, by an analysis of the genetic profiles of patients, whether there is an identifiable subgroup of patients that particularly responds to this treatment. "The analysis of the genetic profiles of patients who respond and those who don't will help us to understand the reasons for this response, thanks to the technology and specialist knowledge that only this Dream Team possesses, which gives it a unique value," explains Dr Rodn, Head of the UITM and principal researcher of this international study.
The study with BKM120 is an example of how the highest level of technology combined with excellence in biomedical research can translate into major benefits for patients. Future lines of research will be directed at the exploration and validation of new predictive biomarkers, bringing us one step closer to realising the promise of personalized medicine. It is becoming increasingly necessary to search for biomarkers of response to these molecules in order to determine, prior to treatment, which patients are going to benefit from this treatment and why.
###
*The Spanish centers involved in the BKM120 trial are: the University Hospital of Vall d'Hebron in Barcelona, the Valencian Institute of Oncology at the University Hospital of Valencia, and the 12 de Octubre Hospital in Madrid. Three North American centers are also expected to participate: the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre, and the Dana-Farber Clinic at Faulkner Hospital, all in Boston, MA.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
This month is Self Improvement Month. All this month I will do a weekly post to help you improve yourself by getting organized.
Meanwhile, the singer has described her new single 'Diamonds', which will be premiered on the Elvis Duran and The Morning Show on Wednesday, as being a "happy and hippy record".
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Public release date: 19-Sep-2012
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